


Familton

by Caticorn2003



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Hamliza, John IS Gay, M/M, alex is straight, angelica and eliza aren't sisters, each chapter is one of the songs, modern day AU, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-18 17:58:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13105539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caticorn2003/pseuds/Caticorn2003
Summary: Alex Hamilton's mother Angelica told him he would get along well with his new step-siblings. Evidently she was wrong.But that's not the only thing going on in fourteen-year-old Alex's life. Four new best friends, a new girlfriend and a vice-principal who thinks he rules the school have all turned Alex's life upside down, in a good way -- but what will he do when things get too crazy?(Or, the AU fanfic where Angelica Schuyler is married to George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are their children.)





	1. Alexander Hamilton

**Author's Note:**

> My little sister came up with the idea in the first place, but we're writing the fic together, and I'm the one doing all the notes and comments.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a late summer day, a few days before school starts up again, and Alexander Hamilton does not possess the ability to get along with his brother Thomas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit goes to one of my friends for coming up with the name Familton!

"You bastard orphan! Son of a whore!"

Alexander Hamilton's eyes flew open, and he sat up in bed, knocking his head on the bottom of the top bunk as he struggled to remember where he was, who was talking to him and why it was so dark. Then he remembered.

The door flew open, crashing into the wall, and none other than Thomas Washington stormed into the room, slamming his fist down on the light switch as he did so. Alex cringed at the sudden brightness, holding his pillow to his face to block the flow of light. "Good morning to you too, Washing Machine."

"You--you--" Thomas seemed at a loss for words, choosing to repeat his previous insult instead. "Son of a whore and a--and a  _Scotsman!"_

Alex peered over the top of his pillow, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light. "What did I do this time?"

"I suppose you think it's _funny_ to replace the yogurt with mayonnaise!"

Thomas's glare was enough to make lions flee in terror, but then again, Alex had been raised by a tigress. "Well, what did you  _want_ me to replace it with? Shampoo?"

"Screw you, you bastard--"

Madison Washington appeared in the doorway, clad in an ankle-length nightgown printed with disturbingly pink kittens. "Thomas, what's going on? Why are you up at five in the morning?" She slipped her small hand into Thomas's, who slapped it away.

"Go away, Maddy. This is a man thing."

"Yeah," Alex echoed. "This is a man thing. Both of you, out."

Thomas looked like he was about to punch Alex to the moon, but Maddy, urgently tugging at the sleeve of his T-shirt, stopped him. "Thomas... Dad said we had to be nice to him. He's our brother now."

Thomas growled. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. I swear,  _Salamander,_ if you do one more thing like that, I'll--I'll--"

"You'll what? Replace my shampoo with yogurt?" Alex snickered.

Thomas charged over to the bed, not-entirely-accidentally kicking Alex in the head as he scrambled up the ladder. Alex rubbed his head and scowled as Maddy flicked off the night. "Goodnight, Thomas."

"'Night, Maddy."

" _'_ _'Night, Maddy,'_ " Alex mocked, imitating Thomas's slightly nasal tone.

Thomas swung a leg over the edge of the bed, about to get down and do God knows what to Alex, but Maddy stopped him. "Thomas--"

 _"What?"_ the boy snapped.

"We're supposed to be _nice,_ " she reminded him.

"Fine. Well, then I am going to bed." Thomas climbed back into bed, but then hissed under his breath, so only Alex could hear, "I swear I'll get you back someday, Salamander. Just you wait."

*

"Morning, Alex," Angelica Washington greeted her son as he grumped downstairs at a much more reasonable hour (ten o'clock). "How did you sleep?"

Alex grunted in return, too sleepy to even complain about Thomas as he slouched to the table. Milk and Froot Loops found their way into his hands, and the bowl was half-empty when the dreaded voice of his stepbrother hit his ears.

"Sleep well,  _Salamander?_ "

The dull  _thunk_ of Alex's head hitting the table echoed ominously around the kitchen.

"Or was your night a little disruptive? You know, sometimes you just can't sleep, especially at those times right around five in the morning. I'm afraid I might have woken you up--I've been known to talk in my sleep at times."

Alex didn't bother with a response, staring at the multicoloured O's floating around in the now-rainbow milk as if they could save him from this situation.

"Honey, I don't think that breakfast is nutritious enough," Thomas said, drawing out a chair and sitting down next to Alex. "Should I fix you something healthier? A bowl of yogurt, perhaps?"

Alex turned to face Thomas. "Yogurt sounds great. I love yogurt; actually, I invented a new recipe for yogurt just yesterday. Would you like to try some?"

"Oh, well, you know, I think the chef should be the one to get the first taste. Here, I'll get you some." Thomas stood up and fetched a clean bowl from the cupboard, then grabbed the yogurt container and glopped whatever was in it into the bowl, setting it in front of Alex along with a spoon.

Alex grinned as he spooned some "yogurt" into his mouth. "Delicious. But you know, I'm really full. Do you want it instead?"

Thomas's face fell as he realized that his prank had backfired. But if Alex could eat that stuff and still smile, it was probably okay. Still, you couldn't really trust the guy to not just be faking that grin of deliciousness. The spoon was an inch from his mouth when the back door slammed, and Maddy burst in, fully dressed, cheeks glowing from running around in the warm August morning. "Oooh, is that yogurt?"

Thomas nearly screamed, knowing how much his younger sister hated mayonnaise. "Maddy, no, don't eat that!"

"Why not?" Maddy sniffed, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Alex reassured, nudging the bowl towards her. "He's just trying to be funny."

"Maddy, no--"

"Boys," Angelica cut in. "What is it with the yogurt?"

"He started it!" both boys screamed, each pointing at the one that was not related to them.

Angelica rubbed her temples wearily. "I didn't ask who  _started_ it. I asked what was going on with the yogurt. Is that really yogurt?"

"Whatever." Maddy hopped onto one of the stools and pulled the bowl over to her, taking a big bite of the mayonnaise. "Yeah, it's--UGH!"

Mayonnaise sprayed everywhere as Maddy did her best to rid herself and everything within a five-foot radius of her of the "yogurt." Most landed on Alex, who immediately turned to look at Thomas. "How could you  _do_ this to her? She's your  _sister!"_

 _"Thomas?"_ Maddy squeaked. _"Tom? You_ did this?"

Thomas looked puzzled. "Maddy, I--"

"Boys? And girl? What's going on?"

Everyone looked up to see George Washington's six-foot frame casting a shadow over the entire breakfast party.

"George," Angelica sighed, standing up and taking a few steps towards her husband. His strong arms encircled her waist as he pulled her in for a good-morning kiss, while the children displayed various shades of  _eww,_ from Maddy's polite looking away to Thomas's pretending to be sick in the bowl of mayonnaise.

Meanwhile, Alex stared unabashedly at the embracing couple. It was odd seeing his mother kissing a man--or kissing anyone at all, after the last fourteen years.

And even while her lips were pressed against her new husband's, his mother was thinking the same thing.

_Angelica Schuyler never meant to get pregnant--or even fall in love. All she wanted was a nice, relaxing, month-long vacation in the Caribbean. But when that suave, handsome Scotsman, Jack Hamilton, had glided across the floor to her at a party and asked her to dance, she hadn't been able to resist. And when he accompanied her back to her hotel, then accompanied her inside and up to her room, she had been able to resist even less. But as much as he said that he loved her that night, he was gone by the next morning, leaving Angelica unsure whether he had ever cared about her at all or just wanted to take advantage of a young, pretty, boyfriend-less woman on vacation. She had done her best to move on, trying to forget about him and enjoy the rest of her vacation with friends on the beach, but a memory of the handsome Scotsman lingered on, on the beach, in the hotel, at dinner, on the plane back..._

_And when she realized she was pregnant, she knew she would have memories of this man for the rest of her life._

_She worked two full-time jobs, saving every last penny, knowing she would need it later on, until the baby was born--and a week after she got out of the hospital, she was right back at work, relying on her neighbours and her parents to watch newborn Alex while she struggled to make enough to keep the two of them alive. When Alex was only six, she was leaving him alone for hours while he slept, working, working. And by the time he was ten, young Alex hardly ever glimpsed his mother at all._

_But he knew how much she loved him, and he knew that she was doing all this for him. He became self-reliant, teaching himself how to run the dishwasher and the laundry machine, helping himself with his own homework, deciphering the cryptic instructions in the decades-old cookbook to learn how to cook pasta and rice and peas, staying up all hours of the night just so that he could hear the joyous sound of her key in the lock of their tiny apartment, jump out of bed and run to her, feel her tired arms encircling him, the soft touch of her lips on the top of his head, and he knew that this was enough. If nothing else, at least he had his mother, and she loved him. And he loved her._

_Then, almost a year ago, Angelica Schuyler finally met someone. A man._

A man who now had his mother pressed against him with not a millimeter of space between their bodies.

"Hey now," Alex broke in. "That's enough. Enough. Remember the house rules: no PDA in the kitchen."

"Since when is that a house rule?" Maddy murmured.

"Ever since our lovely parents got married." Thomas rolled his eyes. For once, all three of them could agree on something.

George, finally breaking away from his wife-of-three-weeks, smiled and sat down across from his children. "Just you wait until you bring home your first girlfriend, Alex. I'll be sure to remind you of that rule."

"George!" Alex groaned. Calling his stepfather  _George_ felt strange to his tongue, but calling him  _Dad_ felt even stranger, so Alex was sticking with his given name for the time being. "Come on!"

"Like  _this_ guy is ever going to get a girlfriend anyway," Thomas sneered.

"I'd like to see  _you_ do it," Alex returned. "Who would ever date  _you?"_

Maddy smirked devilishly. "Well, let's see. How about someone named... _Sally Hemings?"_

"Ooooooh. Got something you need to tell us, Washing Machine?" Alex leaned forward, ready for the latest hot gossip from Thomas Washington.

"Come on, Maddy!" Thomas groaned. "Really? That was in  _seventh grade._ Just drop it, okay?"

"Who's this Sally?" Alex grinned. "I want details. Was she also in seventh grade? Was she younger? Was she  _older?_ Was she hot? How tall was she? What was her bra size? How many times did you kiss?"

"Thirteen and a half," Maddy informed him.

"How long did the kisses last? Did you use your tongue? How far did you get? First base? Second base?"

"Home run," Maddy giggled.

Thomas looked up from where his face had been buried in his hands. "Okay. That is a _lie_. And do you even know what that  _means,_ Maddy?"

"Of course I do," the little girl snickered. "Thomas has said to me on one occasion, and I quote: 'There's a million things I haven't done, but Sally Hemings is not one of them.'"

"I never said that!" the red-as-a-beet Thomas protested. "Look. Can we just--just drop it?"

"Oh, you mean the way  _she_ dropped  _you_ in eighth grade for that football-playing freshman?" Maddy laid her chin on her hands and smirked.

"Oh, Tommy, she dumped you?" Alex sympathized. "I'm so sorry for you, sweetie, that must have been awful to go through. How about some comfort food to cheer you up--maybe some yogurt? You want some yogurt?"

" _Screw_ you." Thomas stood up, knocking his chair over, and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door as he went.

"Well, this is going well," Angelica muttered to her husband, rolling her eyes, as the remaining two children finished their breakfast and left.

 


	2. Aaron Burr, Sir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of tenth grade for Aaron Burr, and his strategy to just lay low and avoid the bullies is interrupted by the loudmouth kid living next door to him.

The hallways and cafeteria of King's Collegiate were packed with eager high-schoolers, all rushing to get in the lunch line before everyone else could get there and get the food before it was all taken.

Aaron Burr was not one of them.

Over his years in elementary, middle and now high school, he had learned quite a bit about staying safe and avoiding bullies. Stay low. Don't attract attention. Don't take sides. Just be another average student, doing your average thing in an average school.

His locker refused to open on the first try, and Aaron tugged futilely at the lock, then gave up and, with a sigh through his nostrils, spun the lock to the numbers of his combination once again. This time it clicked open, and Aaron stowed his new textbooks in the locker and grabbed his lunch and a book, taking his sweet time as he meandered through the crowds to the cafeteria. He had barely settled down at his usual spot, in the far corner of the last table, when he felt a tap on his shoulder and whirled around.

Some kid was standing, staring at him. He was average height, longish dark hair curling around his ears and almost down to his collar, his dark eyes twinkling. Probably a freshman. Some innocent kid who hadn't yet learned how to navigate the terrors of high school. He looked oddly familiar, although Aaron couldn't quite place how he might know him.

"Hey, are you Aaron Burr?"

Aaron couldn't resist. "That's  _sir_ to you, kid."

The kid sighed, adopting a mock-polite tone. "So sorry to bother you, my dear sir, but pardon me, are you Aaron Burr? _S_ _ir_ _?"_ He did a deep bow.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Well. I don't know, it depends. Who's asking?"

"Oh. Well, sure.  _Sir,_ I'm Alexander Hamilton. At your service." He did another mock bow.

"What do you want?"

"I've been looking for you. I heard some things about you, and I wanted to know if they were true--"

Aaron Burr sighed. He knew this type of kid. Smart, ambitious, wouldn't leave you alone until they got what they wanted--this one had probably heard that he had gotten into tenth grade advanced  _everything_ and wanted to know how. These were not people to be messed with. Best to make friends, or at least do your best to not make enemies, with.

He gestured to the vending machine. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Oh, you are far too kind, good sir. How can I ever thank you for the kindness? I--"

"Look, kid--Alexander, you said? You want to get anywhere, stay safe? Get ahead?" Aaron stood up and, walking over to the vending machine, started feeding coins into the slot.

"Um... yes? I guess?"

Aaron fished a dime out of his pocket and added it, bringing the total to two dollars. "There are a few rules you need to follow. Hey, what do you want?"

"Huh?"

"To _drink_. Coke? Sprite? Pepsi? Mountain Dew?"

"Coke would be cool."

"Okay. Like I said, there are rules," Aaron said, pushing the button for Coke. Real-sugar Coke was $2.50, so he went with Diet, which was cheaper. The kid probably wouldn't even notice.

"What rules?"

"Talk less. Smile more. Don't take sides, or at least don't let them know what side you're on. Stay neutral, stay low. You get the idea."

Alexander rolled his eyes. "You aren't from Switzerland, are you?"

Aaron stared back. "How did you know? Anyway, like I said--"

A loud whooping from the front of the cafeteria interrupted them. "What time is it?"

"SHOWTIME!"

Aaron rolled his eyes. They literally did this routine every year on the first day, and he had heard it at least ten times already, which was ten times more than he needed in a lifetime. 

Unlike Aaron, John Laurens was not afraid to attract attention. He ran over to them and jumped up on the table, causing it to creak dangerously. (They had already broken at least two tables this way.) 

"Right, hi everyone! Ready for a new year?"

The loudest two whoops came from the left, and Lafayette followed by Hercules Mulligan jumped on the table, pushing it to the breaking point. "I so am!"

Alexander, who had just set down his lunch tray, jumped back as the added weight caused the table to tremble and crack, with a rift in the middle getting larger and larger, breaking off into smaller sections.

A flailing foot, whether from Lafayette or Hercules (who were now doing the can-can on top of the table) Aaron couldn't tell, kicked Alexander's lunch tray off and the trembling was replaced by an ominous creaking every time one of the older boys put a foot down, as well as Alexander's moaning and groaning as he tried to salvage his mashed potatoes and gravy from the carpeted floor.

"Whoof, close one," John grinned, leaping off the table and stepping in a bit of potato as he did so. "I mean, breaking a table is fun and all, but we're in enough trouble from breaking the last two tables and all those rules too." He turned to face Alexander, who was still crouched on the floor. "Hey, who's this?"

Alexander stood up, putting out his hand for John to shake. "Hey, I'm Alex."

John took it, holding on just a fraction of a second longer than necessary before letting go. "Cool. I'm John Laurens."

Lafayette stepped forward. "Hi. I'm Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette."

" _What?_ "

"Just call me Lafayette." Lafayette smiled. "Or Laf. Or Gilbert, if you _really_ want."

"Just call him Marie," Hercules interrupted. "Everyone does that. Right, Marie? Anyways, I'm Hercules Mulligan. I like spying, pants, and horses."

"Call me Marie one more time and I'm breaking up with you," Lafayette threatened, folding his arms and glaring at his boyfriend.

"As you've said at least twenty times to me in the past hour, Marie," Hercules remarked. "Well, twenty-three. Or is it twenty-four? I've lost count."

Poor Alexander stood open-mouthed, Diet Coke in hand, potato smeared on his shirt, staring blankly at the three boys. Aaron decided to take pity.

"Look, guys, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times. It would greatly benefit you if you'd just quiet down a bit. You spit? I'ma sit, and we'll see where we land." He put a hand on Alexander's shoulder and guided him to the table, which now had some rather disturbing dents in the middle, but otherwise seemed okay to sit at.

"Aaron, Aaron, Aaron." Shaking his head, John took a seat on the other side of Alex. "You need to learn to have a little fun, live a little."

"After all," Alexander piped up, speaking for the first time in ten minutes, "if you stand for nothing, Aaron--what'll you fall for?"

There was complete silence for about five seconds--even Lafayette and Hercules held their tongues--before some girl approached the table and sat down harshly, slamming her tray down on the surface, and with a horrible creaking noise, the table collapsed, taking Alexander's unopened Diet Coke and ten trays of mashed potatoes with it.

"Well then," John said. "Who are you, Alex?"


	3. My Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex hangs out with John, Hercules, Lafayette and Aaron after school, and John especially realizes how awesome this kid is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it was unclear: Thomas calls Alexander "Salamander." Alexander calls Thomas "Washing Machine."  
> Also, I'm [we're] going to try to post chapters daily, at least as long as winter break goes on, but that's not a definitive promise, so don't get too mad if I [we] miss a day (especially if that day happens to be December 25th).

After Alex had left, the four other boys looked at each other without saying anything. Then Hercules shouted, "Happy first day of school, y'all!" and everyone started talking again.

"You guys doing anything after school?" John asked, mainly addressing Lafayette and Hercules. Both responded with shrugs and mumbles of "nothing much."

"Cool. Come over after school. We can hang out, play video games... Aaron, you're invited too if you want."

"Er... I have homework..."

"Sure you do," John grinned. "Come on, Aaron. No teacher assigns homework on the first day of school. Join us, it'll be fun."

"Okay," Aaron gave in. "But only if there's food."

"Oh, totally." Hercules clapped Lafayette on the shoulder. "Marie? You're on that, right?"

"Call me Marie one more time--"

"Okay, good. So, you're coming, then?"

Aaron didn't have any choice other than to agree.

*

The four boys were walking home from school with John when Hercules pointed out someone familiar walking across the street from them.

"Hey, isn't that that Alex kid that was hanging out with us at lunch?"

John turned, his pulse quickening slightly. Sure enough, it was Alex, heavy backpack slung over one shoulder, doing his darndest to ignore the shorter, dark-skinned boy who was trailing behind him and talking non-stop. John couldn't make out what he was saying from here, but it didn't sound nice.

"Hey, Alex!" John yelled from the other side of the street. "You're free, right?"

"No, I cost fifty dollars," he yelled back, even as he was starting to cross the street, the dark-skinned boy--who John assumed was either his brother or a really annoying friend--following him.

Th other three rolled their eyes, but John had to suppress a smile. "Great. Come over to my house if you can make it. "

"Really? You want  _me_ to come over to  _your_ house?"

"Of course!"

Alex's face broke into a huge smile. "Sounds awesome! I'm totally coming!"

"You're  _actually hanging out with someone_?" The dark-skinned kid snickered. "Oh, our little Salamander is growing up fast! Soon he might be going out on actual  _dates!_ But, Sallie, honey--don't forget to tell Mom and Dad first. They'll be worried otherwise."

"Oh, get lost, Washing Machine. You tell them where I am. Or don't tell them. I don't care." Alex gave his brother a shove so that he nearly stumbled back onto the street.

"Wait... you call your brother Washing Machine?" John asked, an idea occurring to him. "We call our American History teacher that, too. Coincidence?"

"I think not," the others chorused.

The look on Alex's face was priceless. You could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"Oh," he said finally. "My stepdad told me he was a teacher at King's Collegiate... I guess I never made that connection." He grinned sheepishly. "Anyway, this is his kid. Thomas Washingmachine. My stepbrother--or my step-annoyance, if you will. He really likes yogurt. Right, Washing Machine?"

"Screw you," said Washing Machine Jr. "Bye-bye, Salamander. Hope you have a terrible time. Mommy will miss you!" He blew Alex a kiss and left.

"Well then," grinned Hercules. "I see you have a very charming step-brother, Alex. Hey, Lauren, which way to your house?"

"Two things: One, don't call me Lauren. Two, you're standing right in _front_ of my house, you idiot." And with that, John turned and started up the gravel walk to his front door, which, unlike all the other doors in the neighbourhood, was bright blue.

"Hey, this is right across from my house!" Alex exclaimed.

"And mine," Aaron put in.

"Wait." Alex turned to look at Aaron as John pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "That means we're neighbours. Hey, how come I haven't seen you around before today?"

"I stay inside most of the time. Reading. Studying. And sometimes hanging out with these monkeys," Aaron replied, stepping inside right after John and Alex.

"You have a nice house," Alex commented, looking around the front hallway. "It's very... open?"

"Huh?" John turned around to look at the younger boy. "What do you mean,  _open?_ "

"I mean, like... airy? High ceilings? Not packed full of annoying siblings?"

"Oh, boy." John started laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "Siblings? I have three. All younger. You just have your stepbrother, don't you?" Too late, he realized that he didn't know this at all--Alex could have fifteen siblings for all he knew--but now it was too late to take it back.

"And a stepsister," Alex corrected. "Madison. We just call her Maddy. Hey, where did everyone else go?"

"To the basement. Come on!" John put a hand on Alex's shoulder and turned him around so he was looking at the stairs leading down to the basement, then galloped down the stairs, not looking back to see whether Alex was following. Predictably, Lafayette and Hercules had taken the two beanbag chairs already, but there was still a relatively comfortable couch that John nudged Alex towards before sitting down himself. Little Henry Laurens was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, happily playing with a couple of toy cars, and didn't even seem to notice the five boys who had taken possession of the various seats around him.

"Your brother's cute," Alex commented, as Lafayette grabbed the remote from a side table and started flicking through the channels, trying to find something good. "How old is he?"

"Um, he's six." John snatched the remote from Lafayette, who had just put on  _VeggieTales_  and was curled up in his beanbag chair, eyes glued to the cucumber and tomato dancing across the screen during the opening theme."Laf, stop. Not everyone needs to know about your vegetable fetish."

"Would you prefer I put on  _Dora the Explorer_ instead?" Lafayette smirked, ignoring the vegetable dig. "Actually, I think _Herc_  would really like that. I have it from a reliable source that he's been in love with Diego since he was five."

"Shut. Up. And let me have the remote." Herc got up from his beanbag, prompting Lafayette to steal it and place his own on top, then wrested the remote out of John's grasp, knocking him on the head once for good measure, before switching to a documentary about wild horses.

"Okay, your bizarre sexual attraction to horses is not something this poor boy needs to hear about either," John lectured Hercules, whose eyes were already glued to one of the mares, covering Alex's ears as he did so. "You okay, Alex?"

Alex grinned. "Never been better. This is great. You guys are great."  _I want to be your friend,_ his eyes were shouting loud and clear.

When Aaron finally got a hold of the remote and switched to some show John had never heard of before removing the batteries from the remote so nobody could change the channel, all five boys finally settled down and relaxed. John pulled Henry, still happily playing with his cars, onto his lap. 

"So... what's with the situation with the principal and stuff?" Alex asked, turning towards the other boys. "I mean, I've heard some rumours, but still, I don't get it."

John sighed. This might take a while. "So first: The principal is fine. Mr. Adams. Not the world's best principal, but decent. The problem is, he's a real pushover. He's basically the way our vice principal gets everything he ever wanted. The vice principal, George King, does all the actual ruling and lets Mr. Adams reinforce it. He does a bunch of fundraisers for 'the whole school.' Guess who gets the money to go on field trips and have special projects? I'll give you a hint: not our class. Also, who gets the important positions as class president and treasurer? The people who totally suck up to him, that's who. Our history teacher, your dad, is probably the only teacher in the school who realizes this. He's talked to the principal, who refuses to believe his loyal vice-principal would ever do something like that. Now he's gotten into a sort of revolution, with the help of his history class--a.k.a. us. And probably you? Do you have history this semester?"

Alex nodded, and John continued. "And Mr. King teaches history, too, in addition to being vice-principal. Not as much as your dad does--"

"He's not really my dad," Alex interrupted. "I mean, I guess he kinda is now... but he and my mom only got married last summer. My mom didn't even  _know_ him until I was thirteen."

"Oh. Sorry. So, he teaches history, not nearly as much as your--your step-dad does, but still a few classes. And they've really got a rivalry going, almost a class-against-class thing at this point. I was hoping the new school year would dissolve the rivalries a bit, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference."

"Whose side are you on?" Alex asked.

"Well, I mean, obviously Mr. Washington's. How could I be on any other side? You'll join us, too, I hope?"

"Absolutely." Alex grinned. "How could I not? Washington's my dad now, or at least my step-dad, and I really don't like the sound of this Mr. King."

The TV show ignored, all four boys were now hanging on Alex's every word as he spoke. "I don't even know Mr. King, but from the way you've described him, there's no way I could ever support him. I'm on your side. Every time."

Everyone burst into applause, except for Aaron--which did not go unnoticed by Lafayette. "Hey, Aaron, why aren't you clapping?"

"Look. I'm not saying I don't support you, but just--we need to be careful, okay? If you're serious about this 'revolution' against the VP, you'll need to be careful, and stay out of trouble."

"Aw, c'mon, Aaron!" Hercules complained.

Aaron was opening his mouth to retort, but Lafayette cut in and changed the subject. "Hey. I'm having a party at my house Saturday night. You're all in, I hope?"

Eager nods all around, even from Aaron. A huge grin spread itself across Alex's face, as if he couldn't believe that he, a lowly ninth-grader, was being invited to hang out with these cool tenth-graders. "I'm in! Where do you live?"

John spoke up. "Just a couple blocks away from here. I'll pick you up, Alex. You don't want to arrive alone." He realized just how stupid and weird the words sounded as they left his mouth, but now it was too late. Luckily, Alex nodded in assent, and it wasn't long before the party of boys broke up and went their separate directions to eat dinner and do their homework.


	4. Story of Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a huge party at Lafayette's house, and everyone, even Alex, is slightly drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve, y'all!

"Oh, hi, John. Hi, Alex. Come in." Lafayette held his door open, and the two boys stepped into the already-packed house. No one even looked at them. From the way Alex saw it, everyone was either drinking, eating, laughing, or making out. Or dancing foolishly to the ridiculously loud music, as at least four boys were doing.

"So," Lafayette said, gesturing to the people around them, "this is pretty much everyone who is on Washington's side. If you're a rebel, you're invited."

Alex looked around for John and saw he had already disappeared into the masses. Ah well. This was a party, after all.

"Alex!" Lafayette tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing towards the drinks table. "What can I get you?"

"Um... Coke?"

Lafayette burst out laughing. "That's not what I meant. How about a beer?"

Alex shook his head frantically, starting to back away from the table. "No--no thanks. I really don't want anything to drink. Just... I'm going to go find John." He turned around and started to fight his way back through the crowd, but was stopped by Lafayette's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. I'm sorry, I forgot... you haven't been to a party before, have you. Here, there's some Coke right here, I'll get you some." He turned his back to Alex and started to pour some Coke into a cup, then swore when he realized that he was almost out. "Sorry. Hold on, just let me get some more from the kitchen..." And he walked away, taking the cup with them. Alex was about to follow him, but decided it might be better to just stay.

Soon enough, Lafayette returned, holding out the now-full cup of Coke to Alex, who took it. "Thanks. I'm... I'm going to go find John."

"Heard my name." Alex turned to find his friend right behind him. "Hi. What are we doing?'"

"Oh, um... just hanging out, I guess." Alex mumbled, taking a sip of his drink to hide how nervous and awkward and out of place he felt. There was a bit of a bitter aftertaste to the Coke, but he brushed off the uneasy feeling he was having and chalked up the taste to the plastic cup the Coke was in. [A/N: Neither of us has ever had alcohol (we're both underage), so we have no idea how it tastes... so we're just making stuff up here. Oh, whoops. Spoiler alert.]

"This your first party?" John asked sympathetically.

"How did you guess?" Alex joked nervously, taking another sip. There it was again, that bitter aftertaste. Where had Lafayette gotten his cups, the Dumpster?

"Hi," said Hercules, suddenly appearing. "Good news: Mr. Adams almost actually sort of stood up to Mr. King!"

"Is that... unusual?" Alex asked.

"You have no idea." John smirked. "I believe this calls for a toast, gentlemen. To freedom -- and to non-wussy principals!"

The four of them clinked cups and drank. This time, Alex just ignored the bitter taste. He was already feeling more relaxed and at ease with the party.

"To the four -- no, to the five of us!" Lafayette raised his cup.

"Wait, no just to the four of us," John reminded him. "Aaron didn't want to come, no matter how much I pestered him."

"Typical Aaron," Hercules snorted. "He seemed okay with it when I first asked him, and then completely changed his mind. Dude, decide already."

 

"I know," Lafayette agreed. "That boy needs to pick a side. Hey, should I just text him non-stop until he agrees to come?"

"Wait... you  _actually want him to come_?" John snorted. "You know what he'd be like." He made air quotes with his fingers. "'I love Washington! But I don't want conflict, so I'm not going to say anything about it! Yeah, King is great too, he's a wonderful VP, I just like Washington too'--ugh." He put his face in his hands. "Why would you want that guy here?"

"I just want him to pick a side. You're on our side, great. You're on King's side, fine, be that way. But _pick one_." Lafayette whipped out his phone and started texting, setting his drink down on the nearest table. Alex peered over his shoulder.

 _laffingstock:_   _yo aaron_

_hamburrger: what???_

_laffingstock: come over_

_laffingstock: this party is lit_

_laffingstock: come join the rebels for good_

_hamburrger: yeah right_

_hamburrger: i need to study and besides_

_hamburrger: what if the teachers found out??? i mean, joining the party is pretty much just declaring that you hate the principal._

_laffingstock: EXACTLY_

_hamburrger: if any teacher on king's side found out that i was there, i'd get detention for sure_

_laffingstock: ...and?_

_hamburrger: sorry bro. not going to happen._

_laffingstock: so you support king?_

_hamburrger: ...no... but i don't really support washington either i guess??? like, i don't pick sides._

_laffingstock: get off the fence_

_laffingstock: get off the damn fence burr_

Alex stepped away from Lafayette as he was stowing away his phone, and took another long gulp of his nearly-finished drink, not even noticing the bitter taste anymore. He felt warm and happy, and just glad to be here with his friends. He let out an involuntary giggle, and John looked at him.

"Are you okay, Alex?"

"Never been better," Alex replied, his words ever so slightly slurred. "This party is great. I'm so glad I came."

"Hold on. What exactly is in that cup?" John took the drink out of Alex's hand, took a cautious sip, then handed it back. "Phew, that's strong. Just how much rum did you put in there? You only need a little."

"What?" Alex looked over at his friend. "What do you mean, rum? It's just Coke. Right, Laf?"

Lafayette burst out laughing, nearly spitting his drink all over the other three. "You mean you had no idea up until now? Come on, didn't you taste it?"

"I  _tasted_ it," said Alex, annoyed. "I just thought the cups were what made it that bitter. You mean--you put rum in here? Without even telling me?"

"Really, Laf?" John folded his arms and glared at the taller boy. "The kid's fourteen. He's still got, like, seven years until he can legally drink. And you're sneaking alcohol into his drink?  _Really?"_

Lafayette blushed, or maybe it was just the alcohol reddening his face. "It was just a joke. I thought he'd realize it wasn't just Coke when he drank some, but evidently he's an idiot."

" _You're_ the idiot!" John looked like he was about to punch Lafayette in the face, but instead just whirled on his heel and stalked away, yanking Alex with him.

"What's going on? John? Are you okay?"

"We--are going--home," John grunted, snatching his jacket and tossing Alex's at him from the stairs. "I don't trust him to not feed you any more poison."

"But--John, I really don't need a chaperone, my house is a ten-minute walk from here--you can go if you want..."

John, completely ignoring anything Alex said, flung open the door and shoved Alex outside, following right behind him.

The ten minutes it took to walk home were spent in total silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone catch the Heathers reference in there? :))  
> Also, I feel like I'm [we're] making this a bit too dialogue-heavy... I'll [we'll] try to remedy that in future chapters.


	5. The Schuyler Sisters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza Rensselaer goes on a "girls only" outing with her almost-aunts, Angelica and Peggy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I [we] changed Eliza's name from Schuyler to Rensselaer because SPOILER she's going to end up dating Alex, and so she obviously can't be related to Angelica--but there still needed to be two Schuyler sisters for the purpose of chapter titles. (Rensselaer was her mother's maiden name in real life). So it's just Angelica and Peggy who are the Schuyler sisters, not Angelica, Eliza and Peggy.  
> Also, Merry Christmas :))

"Everyone ready?" Angelica Schuyler Washington asked. She received two "yup"s; one from her sister Peggy Schuyler, sitting in the front seat next to her, and one from her "niece" (who wasn't really her niece) Eliza Rensselaer, sitting in the back. "Good. Let's go!" She started the engine, and the car slowly backed out of the driveway, en route to the Tri-City Mall to do some much-needed shopping. The plan was as follows: shop, eat, shop, eat, shop, go home.

"All right, girls," said Peggy, turning around to face Eliza, "we need to keep an eye on each other, because it is a Saturday morning and the mall is going to be worse than NYC during rush hour. Here's the plan: I'll make sure Angelica's here, Angelica will make sure Eliza's here, and Eliza will make sure I'm here. This will be done by the fine art of saying someone's name. Practice round right now. Angelica?"

"Eliza?"

"Aunt Peggy?"

"Works." Peggy folded her arms, smiling, as Angelica backed the car into the one empty parking space in all of Albany. "All right, Schuyler sisters, let's go!"

"I'm not a Schuyler sister," Eliza protested, already unbuckling her seat belt.

"You're an honorary one for today," Angelica told her. Three car doors slammed in quick succession, and the "Schuyler sisters" started the long walk from the parking space to the entrance to the mall--the space they found had been one of the farthest away, a good ten-minute walk from the doors.

"Whew," Peggy sighed as they approached the entrance to the mall. "Judging from the number of people in here, I'd say we're pretty lucky to be alive right now, let alone find a parking space." Eliza looked around; there were a good number of people milling about, but for a Saturday morning, it was actually okay. She'd seen worse.

Three hours later found the Schuyler sisters lounging on a bench with three very heavy shopping bags, munching on cheese pretzels and catching up on gossip. Eliza wanted to know if the guy who Peggy had been eyeing for months had finally asked her out; he still hadn't. Peggy wanted to know if Angelica was getting along well with her new husband and stepchildren; she was, although there was something involving yogurt that she still hadn't understood. Angelica wanted to know how Eliza was liking high school; Eliza thought it was fine.

"My son, Alex, he just started ninth grade this September, just like you. What school do you go to again, Eliza?"

"King's Collegiate."

"You're kidding!" Angelica stared at her, a string of cheese dangling from her lower lip, half a bite of chewed-up pretzel visible in her mouth, which was hanging open wide enough to swallow Eliza in one bite. "Alex goes there too! Do you have any classes together, by any chance?"

Eliza was about to respond that she thought he was in her history class, but that was it, when she saw a face she really did not need to see right now.

"Well, this is an interesting coincidence! Hello, Lizzy."

"How--many--times--have--I--told--you--not--to--call--me--Lizzy," snarled Eliza, through clenched teeth.

"Nice to see you, too, Lizzy," said Aaron Burr, leaning against the wall and winking at her. "So, how's life been?"

"A little bit worse now that you showed up." Eliza groaned inwardly. Was it too much to want to spend a nice relaxing afternoon with her two almost-aunts without this guy--who had had a crush on her since 3rd grade, as he had told her on more than one occasion--showing up? She'd told him over and over again that she wasn't interested, and yet he still kept coming after her, like a puppy that won't stop until it gets what it wants. Except less cute and fluffy.

"Eliza, why don't you introduce us to your boyfriend?" Peggy teased. "I don't think I caught his name. How long have you two been dating?"

 _"God."_ Eliza put her face in her hands, feeling herself go tomato red. "He's not my  _boyfriend._ Please."

"That's what you  _say._ " Aaron grinned at her. "But someday, Lizzy, I promise you'll change your mind. And until that day, I'll keep waiting for it."

Eliza turned her back to him and gave her aunts a pleading look, and Angelica sprang to her rescue. "Look, kid. I've got something to tell you. She's not into you, she never will be, and she  _especially_ never will be if you keep annoying her and not leaving her alone. Why don't you go find some other poor girl to pester. Or better, get a crush on someone who just might actually  _like you back._ Either way,  _piss off._ "

Aaron sighed and turned away, looking disappointed. As he walked away, Eliza heard him mutter "Women."

"Well,  _that_ was interesting," said Aunt Peggy, grinning. "Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?"

Eliza pointed to Aaron, sitting on the edge of the huge fountain in the middle of the atrium where the three were sitting, already chatting up some poor girl who looked to be a year or two younger than Eliza. "Pretty sure. Can we just go home now?"

"Oh, come on. It's not even lunchtime yet. And we still have at least four more stores to visit." Peggy pulled a list out of her pocket and consulted it. "Make that five. Let's go!"

Laughing and chatting happily, the Schuyler girls--one real, one honorary, one married--made their way around, stopping at one store for sweaters, another for leggings and T-shirts, a third for dresses, a fourth for shoes, and finally, around five in the evening, when Eliza's feet were starting to ache, the last store on Peggy's list--jewellery.

"Cute," Angelica commented as Eliza tried on a pair of star earrings, eight other discarded pairs already haphazardly scattered around the table or hung back in the wrong place on the racks.

Eliza shrugged, not sure. "I don't know. Do they work with anything we bought?" This store was supposed to be the "greatest jewellery store in the world," but even after an hour, she still hadn't found a single pair of earrings she liked.

"Oh, totally. Remember that striped hoodie you got? Those would go so well together, don't you think?" Angelica rummaged through one of the many bags they had been toting with them, eventually coming up with the blue, green and white-striped hoodie which Eliza had fallen in love with and draping it around her shoulders. "See? It matches exactly!"

"Well... I don't know. I want to see what Peggy thinks."

With Peggy's approval, Eliza bought the star earrings, and the three (young) women left the building. Halfway to their car, the clouds, which had been gathering darkly and ominously, burst open like a giant, sky-sized pimple popped by God, and they ran for it, trying to dodge the bullet-sized raindrops pelting down all around them. It took five minutes to get to the car--the giant shopping bags weren't helping matters--and by the time they piled in, they were soaked to the skin. After recovering, all three started laughing hysterically.

"That was," Angelica gasped,

"The greatest," Eliza panted,

"Trip. Ever," concluded Peggy.

"Let's get home," Angelica laughed, putting the car into drive as Eliza quickly buckled up. "George wanted me to get home before sundown. Eliza, should I just drop you at home, or do you want to have dinner with us?"

It wasn't even a decision. "Dinner would be great, thanks. Just let me text my parents."

*

"Dinner is served," George Washington called, and Eliza stood up and followed Angelica and Peggy into the dining room, where a boy about her age and a younger girl were already seated. She guessed this was Alex; he looked much more like Angelica than like George. And the little girl next to him must be Maddy, George's daughter.

Alex looked up, casting a brief glance towards the doorway before going back to fiddling with his fork. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Eliza took a few steps backwards in shock, not believing a boy she didn't even know had just said that to her--and staggered straight into another person.

"Hey, watch it!" The person, yet another boy around her age, gave her a shove so she nearly fell down.

"Sorry!" Eliza windmilled her arms to keep her balance, wanting nothing more than to crawl away and hide. Why on earth had she agreed to this?

The sound of Eliza's voice had caused Alex to look up in shock, and he was now staring from Eliza to the boy, a look of horror written on his face. One hand flew to his mouth, and he went red to the roots of his hair.

"Oh--um--sorry! I didn't mean you! I thought you were my brother, I mean, pet monkey, I mean brother--aah!" He buried his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled.

Angelica was watching the trio, a slight smile of amusement playing across her face. "Eliza, why don't you sit down?"

Eliza sat down next to Angelica and took the plate she offered, grateful to be doing something. "Thanks."

The rest of the dinner passed rather uneventfully. It was good food--some sort of chicken dish, much better than she usually had at home--and not much was said around the table, except for Alex and the other boy, Thomas, who kept talking about something involving yogurt. Or mayonnaise? Eliza couldn't quite figure out which.

As soon as everyone's plates were clean, Alex stood rather abruptly. "I'll take your plate, Eliza." He was clearly trying to apologize for what happened with "look what the cat dragged in," which was cute. Not that Eliza thought him cute or anything. But it was sweet that he felt bad for doing that. She let him take her plate to the kitchen.

She was unaware that behind them, Thomas and Maddy were making hearts and kissy faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither of us has ever been to Albany or even to New York State, so we're completely making everything up here. Apologies to everyone reading this who lives in Albany.


	6. Farmer Refuted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel A. W. Farmer, that bratty teacher's pet, is holding a whole school assembly to tell the world how much he supports Mr. King, and things get a little out of hand when Alex speaks up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Boxing Day... ? You know what, I'll just stop.

Mr. Washington turned off the projector, which had been showing a slideshow about the First World War, closed his history textbook, and walked to the front of the class. "All right, class, there's an assembly that's starting in about five minutes, so let's get ourselves down to the gym!" He held open the door to the classroom, and the students trickled through, some more reluctantly than others.

"What's the assembly about?" Alex asked Mr. Washington as he passed, who responded with a shrug.

In the hallway, Alex caught John's eye and drifted over to him. "Hey, John, do  _you_ know what this assembly is about?"

His friend shrugged, falling into step with Alex. "No idea. The teacher wouldn't say and nobody else knows. Probably a guest speaker advertising some fundraiser that no one cares about."

Alex sighed. John was probably right. They spent the rest of the walk to the gym ranting about fundraisers.

*

They arrived to find Samuel Farmer standing up on the stage. What was  _he_ doing here? Farmer was in ninth grade, same as Alex, but they only had one class together--and one was enough. Farmer was one of Mr. King's "special students"; in other words, a teacher's pet on steroids. This could be even worse than a fundraiser assembly.

Alex's suspicions were confirmed when Mr. King walked up to the mic once everyone had found a seat. "Good morning, students of King's Collegiate. I'd like to introduce young Samuel Farmer. He wrote an essay for my class that was so good, I thought it best that he share it with the whole school."

The entire gym immediately broke out into a buzz of chatter, some interested, some bored, all loud.

"I'll wait." Mr. King folded his arms and waited, which did nothing other than to encourage the students further, and the decibel level doubled. Finally, a teacher by the door flicked the lights and the students settled down slightly, but Alex could still hear at least three distinct conversations going on in the background, where none of the students seemed to care that the entire school could hear what they were saying if they wanted to. Lafayette and Hercules were two of them.

The noisiest of the students, Laf and Herc included, were disposed of (i.e. yanked into the hall for a little chat before being given detention for one afternoon and sent back into the gym), and Samuel Farmer began.

"Greetings, fellow students of King's Collegiate. My name is Samuel A. W. Farmer, and I am here to speak to you about the situation occurring at our school. It has become known to me that a group of you has been openly rebelling against a teacher who is quite near to my heart, Mr. George King, and I believe that it is the time for this to terminate. First of all, ..."

As Farmer droned on, Alex put his face in his hands and groaned. The guy was only fourteen, same as Alex, yet he spoke like a forty-year-old businessman; he was as prim as Katniss Everdeen's little sister, and the way he talked about Mr. King, exaggerating absolutely every positive quality he had (which wasn't many) and completely ignoring or sugar-coating every negative quality was enough to make Alex sick. Finally, when he was actually saying "Students, I am ashamed of you" like some patronizing teacher, Alex had had enough and stood up.

"Look, Farmer, I don't know  _who_ you think you are, but--"

Farmer looked up from his paper and down at Alex, cutting him off with a gesture of his hand. "Mr. Hamilton, please sit down. There will be plenty of time for questions at the end."

"There's an  _end_ _?"_ John muttered as Alex sat down again, fuming. "Thank goodness! I thought it was going to go on forever!"

"Shut up," Alex hissed. "Don't make me punch  _you_ in the face, too."

John's forehead creased, and his gaze travelled to Alex's hands, which were clenched into fists. "Hey, it's okay. You can destroy him at the end of his presentation. I hate him as much as you do, I promise. But if you talk  _now,_ you're going to get detention for sure."

"I don't freaking  _care_ about detention!" Alex clenched his fists even tighter, the nails digging into his palms. "I am going to go up there and I am going to--"

" _Alex._ " John's hand closed around Alex's fist, gently prying the fingers away from the palm. "Look, he's going into his conclusion now. He's almost done. Just wait a couple more minutes, and then I'll let you have free rein of whatever you want to say or do to him--although I have to warn you, he's not going to like it much, and neither is Mr. King."

"Good," Alex snarled, grinding his teeth savagely.

"And so, my fellow students," Samuel Farmer announced from the stage, "I hope it is clear to each and every one of you that we must not engage in this rebellion against our dear vice principal, but instead appreciate all the work he has done for this school and the students in it. Are there any questions?"

Alex's fist shot up into the air.

"Yes, Mr. Hamilton?"

Alex sprang to his feet, nearly kicking John in the side as he did so. John moved a couple of feet away as Alex started talking. "Look,  _Farmer._ Guess what: There are actually  _reasons_ for this revolution, believe it or not. I've asked Mr. Washington--our class hasn't gotten any new tech in years. Guess who has? Every class that Mr. King teaches. That can't be a coincidence. And don't even get me started on the way he acts like he's the boss of everybody--like he's the president of America instead of just the vice-principal of a lowly high school in Albany. Also, when did Mr.King become vice-principal? Seven years ago. When did we get renamed King's Collegiate? Seven years ago. Coincidence? I think not."

"That will be  _quite_ enough, Mr. Hamilton." Mr. King, red in the face, had taken the microphone from a bewildered Farmer and was now speaking. "I think Samuel here has made an  _excellent_ point--"

"And that's another thing!" Alex shouted, striding forward towards the stage. "All these "reasons" why we should all try to get along and be nice, good little boys and girls are completely bogus! Since when are any of these reasons legitimate? You can't just say that we should respect Mr. King because he is a person to be respected--that's not a valid reason. If you're going to suck up to him that much, Farmer, at least give some legitimate reasons why you suck up to him. I don't know about you, but I personally am not going to listen to this trash for  _one--second--more!_ " Turning on his heel, he stalked across the gym, heart thumping in his chest, and was about to rip open the double doors, but a couple of teachers stopped him.

" _You_ go back to your seat," one of them snarled. "I think the vice principal has something to say to you, young man."

Alex turned around to see Mr. King rapidly approaching, microphone still in hand, face the shade of a tomato.

"I think you've said quite enough. My office. Now. And those three friends of yours that you're always hanging around with, too. Where did they go?"

"N-no! You can't do that!" Alex protested. "They haven't done anything!"

"Two of them were already pulled out into the hall for talking just now," the vice-principal replied grimly. "I think that's enough reason to have a chat with the VP. And I'm sure the third had a hand in this, as well. All four of you--now!" Of course, all of this was said into the microphone, so that not only John, Hercules and Lafayette, but also the entire school could hear exactly what Mr. King was saying. Most students looked away, but as John, Hercules and Lafayette made their way up to the door, a group of students stood up and started cheering --  _for them._ Mr. King turned even redder and hustled them out the door.

"What's going on?" Lafayette asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "Why are we out here?"

"Come to my office," Mr. King answered, with a strange smile. "I think it's time for the five of us to have a little chat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Must say, I'm pretty proud of that simile ("as prim as Katniss Everdeen's little sister"). :))  
> Also, Samuel Seabury is changed to Samuel Farmer to fit better with the title.


	7. You'll Be Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. King has a little Talk with Alex and his friends, further proving what a @*&!$%*&!@#### he is.

"Have a seat." Mr. King gestured to the four plastic chairs in front of his desk, then waited for Alex, John, Lafayette and Hercules to sit down before sitting down at his own desk in front of the four boys.

"Why are we here?" Lafayette asked, puzzled.

"We're here to talk about your disruptive behaviour during the assembly." Mr. King folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward. The chairs were short enough so that all four, even Lafayette, who was the tallest of them, had to look up to see the vice-principal--which Alex realized was probably the point.

"In that case, why am  _I_ here?" asked John. "I never did anything!"

Mr. King smiled grimly. "It's not just the assembly, Mr. Laurens. It's the negative attitude all four of you seem to have towards the leaders of this school--Mr. Adams and myself."

"Actually," Alex muttered to himself, "it should be "Mr. Adams and  _me_ ," not "Mr. Adams and  _myself._ "

Hercules poked Alex in the ribs, causing him to bend double, wheezing with simultaneous laughter and pain. "Shut up! Don't get us into even more trouble!"

"Sorry," Alex choked.

"Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Mulligan. Are you quite all right?" Mr. King's beady eyes bored into the two boys from the great height of his desk. Both boys hurriedly nodded, and he went on. "Good. We don't want any distractions here to draw us away from the main point."

"Which is?" Hercules asked.

"That you should respect the authority of all the teachers here. You boys have been very disrespectful and rebellious towards us, and this needs to stop now."

"Wait... does this mean we don't have to respect Mr. Adams?" Hercules asked cheekily. "He doesn't teach any subject."

"Don't you dare get smart with me, Mr. Mulligan," Mr. King threatened. "One more word out of you and it's a week's detention--which I'm tempted to give to you right now."

"But--"

"That does it. Detention for you, Mr. Mulligan. You'll report to the detention room after school today, and for the next week. Hopefully that will teach you a lesson." Mr. King reached across his desk for a little blue slip, scribbled something on it and handed it to Hercules, who stuffed it in his pocket without even looking at it. "Give that to Ms. Cornwallis. She'll know what to do with it."

Alex spoke up. "But Mr. King, that's not at all fair. You can't just give a student a week's detention for speaking up and doing what's right--"

"Careful, Mr. Hamilton, or I'll put  _you_ in detention, too. And I don't think your friend Mr. Mulligan here was doing what's  _right,_ which is to respect teachers--and  _all_ staff!" Here he glared at Hercules once more. 

"First Amendment," muttered Alex, just loudly enough for his friends to hear it, but not Mr. King, who was talking again.

"Might I remind you that the purpose of going to school is for learning, and that learning cannot happen without respect. Therefore, it is the duty of students to respect faculty and staff, and the duty of faculty and staff to teach and make the school a safe learning environment." Here he leaned forward and gazed at the four boys, all of which were pretending to pay attention, but each of them was just staring right through Mr. King's wagging jaw and at the wall behind him, imagining what they would do when they got out of there. "Know that I deeply care about each one of you--every single one of my pupils. And I hope that you care about me just as much. But it is vital that you show your respect for this to work out."

None of the boys responded. Alex could certainly  _hear_ what Mr. King was saying, but it was going in one ear and out the other while he imagined what he might be doing to this vice-principal if it weren't for the hanging threat of detention--and from the look of John and Lafayette, they were feeling the same way. Hercules, meanwhile, was busily folding an amazingly intricate paper airplane out of his detention slip. According to John, he had a collection of about thirty such blue planes hanging in his room already, none of them signed, of course.

"Do you understand?" Mr. King finally asked, after about twenty minutes of empty rambling.

Alex's head jerked up from a near-nap, and he nodded without having even registered what Mr. King had said.

"Very well. You may go. Mr. Mulligan, don't forget--three o'clock in the detention room."

Hercules smirked and tossed the paper airplane in the recycling bin as he walked out the door, clearly having no intention of ever doing such a thing.

"Did you hear the guy?" John groaned as the four walked out of the office. The clock in the hallway announced it to be quarter to three already, so there was really no point in going to class for the last fifteen minutes. "The whole time was just: da da da da da da da da da da ya da, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Respect. Blah blah. Da da da da ya da."

They continued making fun of Mr. King for the next fifteen minutes, until the bell rang to signal the end of school. Lafayette and Hercules split off one way, no doubt to rant about Mr. King on the walk home before making out in some corner, and John and Alex headed off on their own way home.

"Hey John, I have an idea," said Alex. "What if we put his speech to music?"

"No."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like we described Laf as short in some other chapter, yet tall in this one... ? I don't know. Maybe it was Herc or somebody??? Either way, somebody was described as short, but I'm not sure if it was Laf or not... whatever. If we described Laf as both short and tall, sorry about that.


	8. Right Hand Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex goes to the first meeting of the school newspaper club, only to find out it's actually a rebel alliance against Mr. King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for 10 kudos!  
> Also, we & the fam are going on vacation and won't be back until late on the 2nd--so we won't be posting for the next few days, but expect a boatload of chapters when we get back!

The sound of the doorbell echoing through the house woke Alex up. He sat up, bleary-eyed, and fumbled on his nightstand for his phone to check the time--then his eyes flew open when he saw the time:  _7:47_   _a.m._ Why hadn't his alarm gone off?

The doorbell rang a second time, more urgently.

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Alex stumbled out of bed and down the stairs and flung open the door to find an impatient John Laurens standing on the doorstep, shifting from foot to foot. "...Hi. Um, sorry... I don't think my alarm went off..."

"Alex!" John groaned, burying his face in his hands. "We're supposed to be  _leaving_ now! Wait... did you just get up?"

Alex sighed sleepily. "I must have slept through my alarm. I'm sorry. Hold on, I'll be right there--give me five."

After the shortest shower and breakfast in history, Alex skidded into the front hallway, throwing books and lunch money into his backpack as he did so, his shirt backwards and only half on, wet hair staining the light blue with darker patches. "I'm here! I'm ready! Let's go!"

John checked his watch. "Six minutes. You lied to me, Alexander."

"Shut up," Alex grunted, shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his coat and hat in one hand before slinging his backpack over his right shoulder and walking out, slamming the door behind him. It was the coldest day they had had this fall, and frost glazed the rooftops and lawns in a thin layer of white. Above his head, Alex could hear the honking of geese as they flew south, to a warmer place.

"This," John grumbled as the two boys approached King's Collegiate, "is where I  _really_ miss South Carolina."

Alex nodded in agreement. "At least it means it'll snow soon."

On the way to their lockers--which were only about ten lockers apart--Alex spotted a poster on the walls he hadn't seen before. "Hey, John, look at this."

Both boys studied the poster, which proclaimed:

 

DO YOU ENJOY WRITING, EDITING OR PHOTOGRAPHY?

DO YOU WANT TO GET THE INSIDE SCOOP ON WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN THE SCHOOL?

COME JOIN THE STAFF OF THE KING'S COLLEGIATE NEWSPAPER!

 **When:** Fridays at lunch, starting Friday, November 22

 **Where:** Room 104 (Mr. Washington's room)

 **Who:** Mr. George Washington--and, hopefully, you!

 **WHY?** It's fun!

 

"Friday, November 22?" John leaned closer to the poster, peering at the date. "That's today, isn't it?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, it is. Do you think you'll go?"

John smiled. "Absolutely... and not because I like 'writing, editing, or photography.'"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Alex, do you think anyone on Mr. King's side would ever even  _consider_ attending a meeting run by Mr. Washington? 'School Newspaper'? Yeah, right. This isn't a school newspaper. This is a rebel alliance."

*

"Alex! Come on in!" Mr. Washington held open the door for Alex as he entered the room, followed by John. "We've got a few people here already. Let's see... have you met Aaron, here?"

Alex looked towards the table in the middle of the room, where none other than Aaron Burr sat, smiling smugly. "Yes... sir."

"We keep meeting," the two boys said together.

"Well, that's great! Why don't you have a seat, and your friend here--what's your name?"

"John." John stepped fully into the room, clutching his binder to his chest awkwardly.

"Your friend John, too. Oh, look, here come a few other people..." Mr. Washington stood up from the chair he had just sat down in and moved to the door to greet the three girls who had just come in, followed by Hercules and Lafayette, who were joking loudly about something involving horses.

The three girls sat down across the table from Alex, with the tallest one of them directly across from him. With a shock, Alex realized who it was--Eliza Rensselaer. The girl from the "look what the cat dragged in" incident. And she was just as pretty as she had been when she and Peggy came for dinner. Alex blushed and turned towards John, frantically searching for something to say to him to hide the fact that he'd just been staring at a girl who probably hated his guts.

"Hey, don't I know you?"

Alex's head jerked upwards. Eliza was staring straight at him. "I... I think so? Didn't you have dinner with us one evening? You and my mom are kinda friends, aren't you? Well, not exactly friends, I guess, but you know each other? I remember that. Look, I'm sorry about what happened that evening with the thing with the "look what the cat dragged in," I didn't mean to say that to you, it was meant for my stepbrother--"

 _"Alex._ " Eliza laughed, the sound like silver bells. "It's okay, you don't need to apologize..."

Anything else Eliza said was lost to Alex's ears as he zoomed in on just one thing she'd said.

_Alex._

The girl knew his name. Meaning, she knew who he was. _And_ she didn't hate him. Alex was floating dreamily through a happy realm of infatuation when he heard somebody call his name, followed by a hard punch to the shoulder, dragging him back to earth.

"Ow!"

"Pay attention, you monkey." John grabbed Alex's head and turned it towards the front of the table, where George Washington was talking about something. What might he be talking about? Alex didn't know and didn't care. Until he heard the phrase "rebelling against Mr. King," and suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Look, I know that as a teacher, I'm not supposed to talk badly about other teachers. Nor am I supposed to openly encourage rebelling against those teachers. But I'm sure that all of you have come here knowing that since it's me leading it and not some other random teacher or Mr. King, we will not be doing much writing here--"

A boy and a girl, both around eleventh grade, started urgently whispering with each other, then both stood up and left.

"Um--Mr. Washington?" John raised a hesitant hand. "Shouldn't somebody go after them? Make sure they don't tell Mr. King what we're up to?"

The teacher dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. "No need. Even if Mr. King finds out, it's their word against mine--and you don't suppose I'd be telling the very person we're plotting against what our plans are? Yes, Aaron?"

Aaron stood up. "Mr. Washington, I just wanted to say--I like this idea, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out, but I think it could be better. I have some questions, a couple of suggestions...on how we could really fight Mr. King instead of just keeping this as a secret, undercover rebel thing."

"How interesting. I have a pretty solid plan down, so thank you, Aaron, but I don't think I need any more input. However."

The entire table leaned forward to hear whatever it was Mr. Washington had to say next.

"I'm going to need some assistance here. Somebody to help me with some of the finer details of this plan. A right hand man, if you will. Or right hand woman," he added, with a nod to the five or so girls scattered around the table. "Are there any volunteers?"

Three hands shot up: one belonging to a senior girl, one to Lafayette, and one to Aaron, of course.

"Well, I'll need to give it a bit of thought--it can't be just anybody, of course. How about this: I'll think about it and let you know by next Friday at the latest."

Nods from all around the table.

"With that, the meeting is adjourned, because lunch is going to be over in five minutes. Have a nice week, and I'll see you all next Friday, I'm hoping?" Mr. Washington stood up from his chair and stood by the door as students streamed out of the room. As Alex passed him, he muttered, "See me directly after school, in this room."

*

Alex opened the door and stepped in. Aaron was also there, but no one else except for Mr. Washington, and the cardboard cutout of Benjamin Franklin leaning against one of the walls.

"As I was saying, sir," Aaron was saying to Mr. Washington, "I really think this 'newspaper' is a great idea--"

Mr. Washington looked up, noticing Alex, then back at Aaron. "Aaron?"

"Sir?"

"Close the door on your way out. Alex, have a seat."

Aaron stomped off, and Alex sat down at one of the desks. "Did I do something wrong?"

"On the contrary. I wanted to know--would you like to be my 'right hand man'?" Mr. Washington leaned forward across the desk and studied Alex.

Alex couldn't speak for a few seconds before finding his voice. "I guess... I mean, absolutely. I'm honoured. So, what do we do first? It would be useful to have someone who pretends to be on Mr. King's side. It would be useful to have a few more supplies at our disposal, I can probably order some or something. The guys are loyal, but we need to teach them to be really secretive. Okay, what else? We'll need--" He was stopped by his stepfather holding up a hand.

"Excellent. That's settled, then." Mr. Washington stood up and walked out of the classroom with Alex just behind him, locking the door behind him.

Together they walked down the hallway: Mr. Washington... and his right hand man.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The impatient John Laurens: one of nature's most dangerous creatures. Second only to the drunk Hercules Mulligan.


	9. A Winter's Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's friends find out about his crush on Eliza and encourage him to ask her to the upcoming Winter's Ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, y'all!

Alex was eating lunch with John and Lafayette one day when Hercules came running up to the table, waving a poster (undoubtedly ripped off some wall, somewhere). "Have you seen this?"

"Gimme." John snatched the poster from Hercules as he sat down, and Alex peered over his shoulder. The poster read:

 

A WINTER'S BALL

Holiday dance for all students in grades 9-12!

Fri. Dec. 12th, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Dancing in the gym, games in Mrs. Cornwallis's room (room 209)

Dress: semi-formal

 

The mere mention of a dance made Alex's heart start beating twice as fast, but he did his best to cover up his reaction with: "Sounds cool. Are you guys going?"

Hercules spoke up. "I am. And I'm bringing this guy here as my date." He slung an arm around Lafayette's shoulders, and the taller boy grinned at him.

Alex nodded. "What about you, John?"

John blushed and stuttered something incomprehensible before going back to his sandwich.

"Ooh," Hercules teased. "Little Lauren's got a crush. Who is it, Laurie?"

"Uh. Um. That's... private." John turned a deeper shade of red, suddenly becoming very interested in the contours of his sandwich. "And don't call me Lauren!"

"Ooh. Little Laurie's got quite some secret. What about you, Alex? Got a date yet? I bet the girls are just lining up by your locker, begging for you to ask them to the dance." Lafayette punched Alex in the arm.

"Just you wait," Hercules snickered. "He's going to show up to the dance with fifty girls in tow--eh, Alex?"

"Well, um, actually," mumbled Alex, blushing, "there is this one girl..."

John stood up suddenly. "I'm going to the bathroom. Ill be back."

"Probably mourning over his secret crush, whoever she--or he--might be," Lafayette said as soon as John was gone. "Now, who is this girl, Alex?"

"She's... uh..." Alex fidgeted with his hands, zipping and unzipping his hoodie and fiddling with the drawstrings. "It's... well, you see..."

"Let's see if I can guess." Lafayette leaned across the table. "Does she go to this school?"

"Yes."

"Is she in your grade?"

"Yes."

"Is she in any of your classes?"

"Um... one. Math."

"Is she in the 'school newspaper group'?" Hercules chimed in.

"Um. Yes."

"Is her name...  _Eliza?_ "

"Well... okay, yes."

"Knew it!" The two boys high-fived. "So. Eliza Rensselaer, huh? Can you see them together, Laf?"

"Totally," Lafayette replied. "We need a ship name for them."

"Elizalex," Hercules suggested. "Or Alliza."

"Alexabeth!"

"Ooh, yeah, that's pretty good."

"Would you two  _stop?_ " Alex put his face in his hands. "We're not  _dating._ She barely even knows I  _exist!_ "

 _"Yet,"_ said Hercules meaningfully, grinning. "Oh, hi, John. Can you think of a good ship name for Alex here and Eliza Rensselaer?"

John's face contorted into a strange expression, one that looked almost disappointed, but Alex blinked and it was gone, replaced by a smug grin. "Ooh. So you finally found out who Alex's crush is?" All three boys nodded, Alex somewhat reluctantly. "Isn't that the girl who you were staring at constantly during the first newspaper meeting?"

"I was  _not_ staring at her!" Alex protested.

" _Sure_ you weren't. So... ship names? How about Hamliza? You know, because you're a Hamilton?"

Alex gasped. "I'm a  _Hamilton?_ Wow! Amazing! A ground-breaking concept! John, you're a  _genius!"_

"When they get sarcastic with you, you kn ow for  _sure_ they're in love," Lafayette advised. "Anyway, Hamliza is good. What do you think, Herc?"

"Hamliza sounds great." Hercules grinned. Lafayette grinned. John hesitated for a second, then grinned.

Alex didn't follow the trend and groaned. "You guys are impossible."

"Hey!" Lafayette glanced at the table behind them, then back at Alex. "She's sitting right there, and she's even alone. Go ask her to the dance--right now!"

Alex turned around. There sat Eliza Rensselaer, eating all alone--whatever friends might have been with her earlier had disappeared. "I don't know... I mean, what if she says no?"

"You're starting to sound like Aaron. Now come on! We'll come with you." Lafayette grabbed one of Alex's arms while Hercules took hold of the other, and together they dragged Alex over to Eliza, with John trailing a few feet behind.

Eliza looked up as the four boys approached. "Can I help you?"

"Alex here has something to say to you," Lafayette told her.

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Go on. Say it!" John hissed.

"Uh..." Alex stuttered. "Um, hi."

"Hi?" Eliza raised a beautiful eyebrow, regarding him skeptically.

"Look. I just wanted to ask you... um, say... uh, I think you're... really good at art!"

"How do you know?" Eliza asked. "You don't even  _have_ art with me."

Alex was about to say something even more stupid when the warning bell rang, and Eliza stood up abruptly. "I gotta get to class. See you around." And with that, the love of his life was gone.

"Ugh." Alex buried his head in his hands while his three friends patted him on the back reassuringly.

*

Alex cleared his throat to get the family's attention at dinner that night. "So, uh..."

"What is it, Salamander?" Thomas sneered. "Got some big announcement you want to share with the family? Do you finally have some friends, or what?"

"Shut up, Washing Machine." Alex elbowed his brother. "As I was  _saying..._ So there's this dance going on at school. A winter dance or something."

"Oh, is that that 'Winter's Ball' thing?" Angelica snapped her fingers, remembering. "I heard about that from George--and he said they needed parent chaperones, so I volunteered."

"Oh, Mom, no!" Alex groaned. "This is going to be embarrassing enough with just  _one_ parent there--I don't need  _two!_ Especially since you two are probably going to do some sappy dance routine in front of all my friends, and..."

"Alex, calm down." His mother put a hand on his arm. "Your father isn't going."

"Someone has to stay home with Maddy," George put in.

"I'm old enough to stay home by myself!" Maddy protested, looking up from her lasagna. "I don't need someone to stay  _with_ me!"

"Sorry, Maddy," George sighed. "I've already told the school I'm not going."

Alex wasn't about to change his stepfather's mind. "So, Washing Machine, got a date for the ball already?"

Thomas reddened. "None of your business,  _Salamander!"_

"Tommy has a girlfriend," Maddy chanted.

"Shut. Up." Thomas stood up, kicking his chair over as he did, and stormed out, leaving his food untouched.

"So anyway," Angelica continued, "I'll drive the two of you to the dance. Plus Thomas's date if he has one and she needs a ride--speaking of which, Alex, are you going to the dance with anyone? Or just with friends?"

"I wish," Alex sighed, then left before anyone could figure out what he meant.

Maddy left the table, too, to tell Thomas about this new development in her stepbrother's love life. The two adults glanced at each other, shrugged, and went back to eating.


	10. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the aforementioned dance, and several people are a bit too helpless for their own good.

"Have a good time at the ball," Catherine Rensselaer told her daughter as she climbed out of the car. "I'll be there at nine to pick you up."

Ten-year-old Philip waved from the backseat as Eliza started walking towards the school. Eliza waved back at her little brother, then joined the crowd of eager students and was swept away into the hallway outside the gym, stopping first to hang up her coat.

"Eliza!" Kitty Livingston, Eliza's best friend, elbowed her way through the crowd and threw her arms around her friend before stepping away and looking her up and down. "You look beautiful!"

Eliza smiled and looked down at her dress. It really was pretty, a floaty dress of light blue, embroidered with tiny flowers, with elbow-length sleeves and a skirt that just brushed her ankles. "Thanks. You look amazing, too." Kitty had gone for a much less modest look, with a sleeveless, V-necked red dress that barely touched her knees--but somehow she pulled it off without it seeming too revealing.

"You should see Henry," Kitty giggled. "He looks so good, Eliza--and I think he's going to ask you to dance!" Henry was Kitty's tenth-grade brother who she was always trying to set Eliza up with, even though Eliza would rather have gone out with a troll--and had told Kitty so on more than one occasion. "Come on, he's right this way!"

Kitty grabbed Eliza's hand, and Eliza let out a huff, but allowed herself to be dragged over to where Henry and his friends stood. He did look okay, she had to admit; but she still wouldn't have dated him for a million dollars.

Angelica Schuyler was suddenly at Eliza's shoulder, her son Alex trailing behind her. "Hey, Eliza. Looking good!"

Eliza smiled--but then Alex stepped out so he was fully in view, and Eliza forgot how to breathe.

The boy, who usually wore nothing but ragged jeans and old T-shirts, with a sweatshirt on top if it got cold, was dressed to the nines with black dress pants and gray vest over blue dress shirt, plus a darker blue tie. His usually messy dark hair was brushed back neatly and tied in a ponytail, and he looked nothing short of handsome.

"Eliza," Kitty hissed from behind.

Eliza whipped around guiltily. "What? What is it?"

"Come on! They're opening the doors to the gym!" And with that, Kitty grabbed Eliza by the hand and yanked her inside. Some pop song Eliza didn't recognize was blaring over the speakers, and a hundred kids were already dancing. The two friends joined them, bopping to the rhythm, occasionally joining the long 'trains' that formed around the gym at almost every song but mostly dancing on their own. A couple of times, Eliza glimpsed Alex through the crowd, but he never seemed to be looking at her, instead just talking to one of his friends or someone.

"Hi, girls!" Angelica appeared beside them. "Can I borrow your friend for a moment?"

She led a nervous-looking Kitty to the door of the gym, out of Eliza's earshot. Eliza had no idea what was going on, but Kitty returned moments later with a face-splitting grin. She nudged Eliza. "Hey... that guy over there. Right there, by the smoke machine. Isn't he kinda cute?"

Eliza looked in the direction Kitty was pointing, and felt her heart skip a beat when she realized Kitty was pointing to Alex, awkwardly dancing with a few other boys. "Well, um, yeah, I guess," she mumbled, trying to hide her emotions.

"Come on, Eliza, 'fess up. You like him, _don't you?_ " Kitty nudged Eliza in the side, grinning.

"Well... I guess?" Eliza was definitely blushing by now.

"Ha. Knew it."

Eliza blushed even more, dreading the torrents of teasing that were sure to come in the near future, but Kitty didn't say anything more about Alex, not even when the first slow song came on. It wasn't until the second slower song started that she said:

"Okay, Eliza, now close your eyes." And Kitty took hold of her hand and started to lead her across the gym.

"Where are you taking me?" Eliza asked nervously, opening her eyes again so as not to bump into one of the dancing bodies.

"I'm about to change your life," Kitty said, closing Eliza's eyes again.

Eliza sighed. "Then by all means... lead the way."

"Okay, you can open your eyes again," Kitty told her gleefully.

Eliza's eyes snapped open before the words were even out of Kitty's mouth, and her heart started beating faster. There, not two feet in front of her, stood Alex Hamilton, Angelica smiling smugly just behind him.

"Alex here has something to ask you," Angelica said.

Alex, flushed and sweaty from dancing but even more adorable because of it, cleared his throat. "Do you... do you want to dance with me?" He looked briefly at Eliza, then away.

Eliza's palms started to sweat, and she wiped them on her dress before swallowing and softly replying, "Yes."

While Angelica and Kitty beamed at each other, Alex held out his hand to Eliza. She took it, and he led her to the middle of the gym while soft, slow music played through the speakers.

They didn't talk, just swayed slowly to the music. One of Eliza's hands was clasped in Alex's, the other rested on his shoulder while they turned in a very, very slow circle, and Eliza let herself relax and get lost in his eyes while she wondered why she hadn't noticed this guy years ago.

_"When I saw you in that dress_

_Looking so beautiful_

_I don't deserve this_

_Darling, you look perfect tonight."_

The song ended, and Alex drew Eliza into a close hug before letting go and drifting, star-struck, back to his friends.

"How was it?" Kitty asked, grinning.

Eliza sighed. "Wonderful."

*

When the last song had finished and the lights had turned back on in the gym, Eliza drifted happily out, Kitty by her side, chattering non-stop. Eliza didn't hear a single word of it.

"There's my mom. See you Monday." Kitty hugged Eliza briefly before heading out the door. Eliza took her time finding her coat, figuring her mom wouldn't be there until at least nine-fifteen. She might as well wait by the doors.

But when nine-fifteen came and her mom still hadn't shown up, Eliza decided to go out to the curb and wait. She had a coat; she'd be fine.

The night air was cool and crisp, and a couple of stars glittered from up in the cloudless sky. A half-moon cast a soft silver glow that was completely drowned out by the orange glow of the streetlights, but Eliza didn't mind, as long as she could spot a few stars.

"Waiting for your ride?"

Eliza whirled around. There stood Alex, a lopsided grin on his face. Eliza felt herself melt into a puddle of goop as he closed the distance between them to stand on the curb next to her.

"Nice night," she said, attempting to fill the awkward silence.

"Yeah," he agreed, shifting slightly closer to her. Their hands brushed--neither was wearing gloves--and before Eliza knew it, her hand was twined with his. Full of a sudden boldness, she inched even closer, so she could rest her head on his shoulder as they stood there.

"Are you waiting for someone to pick you up?" Alex asked, breaking the silence. "Do you need a ride? My mom's still helping with cleanup after the dance, so you'd have to wait a bit, but I'm sure she'd be happy to drive you. You'll have to put up with my brother, but--"

Eliza shook her head, raising it up off his shoulder to look at him. "I'm okay. My mom should be coming any minute."

"Well, in that case..."

Their hands were still linked, but now Alex's other hand found Eliza's, and they were standing facing each other, holding hands, not even a foot apart, in the dark, with no one around. Eliza debated leaning forward a little, and couldn't stop thinking about how if there was ever a perfect time to kiss someone, this would be it...

She leaned forward.

Alex leaned forward, too.

Her eyelids fluttered shut, and his lips met hers.

And Eliza had never felt so helpless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, we used "Perfect" as the song they were dancing to. Deal with it.


	11. Satisfied, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a few days since Alex and Eliza started dating, and certain people are sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we altered this a bit in that there's going to be a Satisfied, part 1 and a Satisfied, part 2 before Story of Tonight (Reprise). Also so that there are 48 chapters instead of 47, which is a much nicer number :p

"John, I'm so sorry." Sounding genuinely sorry, Alex put a hand on John's arm, his touch sending sparks up John's arm, even if the boy would never admit it. "I'm hanging out with Eliza after school today, so I can't walk home with you. Sorry." The hand left, but the sparks didn't'. His hair was going to catch on fire soon if he wasn't careful.

John took his time at his locker. There was no one impatiently waiting for him, after all, so what was the rush? Fifteen minutes after the dismissal bell had rung, he finally left the school building. Alex was probably already with Eliza, making out or making goo-goo eyes or making babies or whatever.

The weather matched John's mood: gray, overcast, and slushy. Christmas was only a week away, but despite John's family being strict Catholics, he couldn't care less about the birth of Jesus at the moment. Or ever.

Since Alex wasn't there beside him talking his ear off, John had lots of time to think. He didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. His thoughts were going in circles, always returning to three points, one after the other.

The first point: Alex.

Alexander Hamilton. The boy who had captured John's heart the moment he saw him from across the cafeteria. John didn't have a heart anymore, as it had exploded at the first words that had come out of that adorable boy's mouth.

All this time, John had been secretly hoping, hoping against hope, that Alex somehow returned his feelings, that during some magical event at some magical place and time, the magical opportunity would arise for John to magically spill his true feelings for Alex, and Alex would magically say that he felt exactly the same, and they would magically kiss and live magically ever after.

And those were just his daydreams. The dreams he had at night, on the other hand-- _no, do not think about that, do_ not _think about that, do NOT think about that,_ because if telepathy was a thing and somebody was listening in on him, then John would be in  _very_ hot water, and this fanfic is rated G and I'd like to keep it that way.

Still, he knew, without a doubt, that he loved Alex.

And he knew equally, without a doubt, that Alex did not love him back.

For months he had hoped, but now with the introduction of this  _Eliza Rensselaer_ \--John clenched his fists to keep from screaming as he thought the name--all those hopes had been crushed.

Now, he knew, for sure, that Alex was straight. Straight as a lamppost.  _I, on the other hand, am as straight as my hair,_ he thought, running a hand through his curls.

Which led him to the second point that kept bouncing around his skull.

His parents--or more specifically, his parents' religion.

John's family was Catholic, and he had always been raised with the lesson that gays are bad, gays are sinners, gays deserve to burn in hell. And, like all the other sins (murder, adultery, not wearing a head covering in church), John had always just blindly gone along with it, because who was he to go against what the Bible had been telling everyone for millenia?

Until, at eleven, John found out he was gay, and his world turned upside down. He hadn't chosen to be a sinner, so why was he one? Fifteen-year-old John knew the Bible needed some major edits in major ways, but eleven-year-old John had grown up learning to 'trust and obey,' i.e. follow blindly and don't question, and now he had no idea what to do about his new discovery. So he did the natural thing: he kept his secret to himself, telling only his journal, which was hidden where his parents would never, ever find it. When John first met Laf and Herc, who were already together, he was shocked. Didn't they know they were sinners? His questions grew along with his very interesting browser history, and even now he still had no idea what he was going to do.

And that still didn't solve the problem of his parents. While John was slowly drifting apart from the religion he had always believed in, his parents were just as pious as ever, completely blind to he fact that while they were busily preaching about eradicating homosexuality, their son was doing exactly the opposite. John knew that if he ever peeped a word to them about the fact that he just might not like girls, they would disown him forever, so he had kept the secret for four long years, and had been planning on keeping it pretty much indefinitely, probably marrying some nice Catholic girl that they dug up for him, having a bunch of kids and living an unhappy life, but with his crush on Alex and Alex's dating Eliza, somehow that had changed. He still probably wasn't going to come out to his parents any time soon, but he wasn't quite as resigned to keeping it a lifelong secret anymore.

And then the other problem, and the last: how to keep it a secret from Alex? If he ever found out that his best friend had a huge, desperate crush on him, their friendship would be ruined. Because now that John knew that Alex was straight as a flagpole, and he had a girlfriend whom he was clearly in love with, there was absolutely no chance that Alex had any feeling for him as anything more than a friend, and therefore, if John spilled the truth to Alex, what would happen next could only be bad. John could easily imagine all the different scenarios: Alex letting him down gently. ("I'm sorry, John, but I just don't feel that way about you.") Alex letting him down not-so-gently. ("You think I'd  _ever_ have a crush on  _you?_ Ha!") Alex ending their friendship. ("Sorry, John, but I just can't be friends with you anymore.")  ~~Alex kissing him passionately.~~ Alex making fun of him for being gay. ("You're  _gay?_ That's so weird! I don't want to be friends with a gay guy.")

Alex didn't deserve to go through that. What chance did John have, anyway? Best to just leave Alex alone. Let him enjoy his life with his girlfriend, whom he was clearly in love with. John should just forget about his crush and move on. If only he could.

His phone chimed in his pocket, and John pulled it out to see a new text--from Alex. _Think of the devil_. His heart leaped in his throat, and he read:

_Hey! I feel kinda bad for ditching you for Eliza, especially after I promised I'd walk home with you, so do you want to hang out this evening? Doesn't have to be special, could just be watching a movie or whatever. Just some quality time between friends._

John hesitated, then wrote back:

_So sorry, I can't. Family wants me to spend an evening with them, says I spend too much time with friends or something dumb with that. :/_

It was a total lie, but John didn't think he could handle seeing Alex so soon again. Strange--two weeks ago he would have jumped at the opportunity to hang out with Alex, and yet now...

With a sigh, John tucked his phone back into his pocket and continued on his way home. He still had no idea what to do about anything, but one thing was clear to him.

He knew he would never be satisfied.


	12. Satisfied, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John's not the only one who is saddened by Alex's new relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, big update time. I personally am not going to be writing this fanfic anymore. However, my little sister, who's been writing this with me (even though she doesn't do notes and comments) is still going to be writing, and I'll be posting the chapters that she's writing. So this one is still written by both of us, but every chapter after that is going to be just her writing.

Angelica Schuyler took a break from doing the dishes and leaned on the counter, staring out the window at the bleak January afternoon. It was just cold enough that nobody was in the mood to go outside, but just warm enough for it to rain instead of snow, and everything was gray and wet and miserable--including Angelica herself.

 

The front door flew open, and two young personages burst in, holding hands as they peeled out of their coats, looking at each other the whole time ("making goo-goo eyes" as Maddy had put it) and completely oblivious to the fact that they were dripping water and slush all over the newly swept entrance hallway.

"Watch it! Leave those wet boots in the mudroom!" Angelica left her post at the window to fill her role as nagging mother.

"Nice to see you too, Mom," said Alex, hanging Eliza's coat on the hook next to his. "The weather out there is crazy! I'm soaked after a five-minute walk. Can you make hot chocolate or something?"

"Alex, milk is in the fridge, and there's cocoa powder and sugar in one of the cupboards." With that, Angelica picked up the two pairs of wet boots, sighing, and walked out of the hallway carrying them, careful not to drip water on the floorboards. When she returned, she found Alex and Eliza in the kitchen, Eliza stirring a pot on the stove while Alex snacked on potato chips.

"Alex!" Angelica scolded. "How about helping your guest when they  _generously_ offer to prepare a meal in your home?"

"She said she was fine," Alex protested from inside the potato chip bag.

"I  _am_ fine," Eliza agreed, pouring the hot chocolate into two mugs, dropping marshmallows in them and handing one to Alex.

Alex took it, warming his hands on the warm mug before taking a sip. "Come on, Eliza, let's go up to my room."

"Leave the door open!" Angelica called after them as they headed up the stairs, already holding hands despite the mugs of hot chocolate they were holding.

"Aw, c'mon, Mom..."

With the lovestruck children out of the way, and even more dishes to wash, Angelica had plenty of time to think. She wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

Ever since Alex had started dating Eliza, he'd been more distant from her. He'd grown closer to George, which was a good thing, but like all mothers, she missed her little boy. She wished she had been able to spend more time with him when he was younger, but working two jobs at once meant she could barely see him. She had two out of three options to pick: Job 1, Job 2, or Alex. And she didn't have a choice--she needed to keep them alive somehow. How did this all start?  _Rewind..._

Oh yes, she remembered that night. When she had traveled to a small Caribbean island for a few weeks, and met Jack Hamilton, and fallen in love. When she had danced with him all night long. When he had looked straight in her eyes--oh, those eyes--and told her that he loved her. When he had abandoned her the next morning.

Move forward some. Nine months, specifically. The night when the barely twenty-year-old girl suddenly grew up more than she could have ever imagined. She had looked down at Alex and known, beyond any doubt, that he was the most beautiful and perfect thing on the planet. Her heart was completely full with love, and she had sworn to herself to protect him, no matter what, because he was all that even mattered to her. It wouldn't be easy, she knew that much, but she would make it through. Somehow. 

Move forward twelve years. She had said goodbye to Alex and walked out the front door to her job as a waitress, just another mundane Wednesday morning that was much too early for her liking, but her world had flipped upside down when a customer had walked into her restaurant and sat down at one of her tables, and as he had given her his order, she had looked at him a second time and her heart had melted. Little had she known that the man was thinking the same thing. She had been walking back home to her apartment, thinking about the customer, when she had been bumped into by that same man. They had started talking, and before Angelica knew it she had been asked on a date and had dreamily accepted.

Move forward two more years. The woman who had been a poor waitress with a neglected son had become a woman who was so happy she thought her heart would break, standing at the front of a church clad in white while the same man who she had met in a restaurant was now standing right beside her, saying "I do."

Move forward a few months, and it was the Winter's Ball at Alex's school. Angelica had never expected that her plan to get Alex and Eliza to dance would actually work, but it had, and now that Alex was spending his every waking moment with Eliza, Angelica was wondering if it hadn't been a mistake after all. The girlfriend thing she wouldn't have minded as much--she was happy that Alex finally had a girlfriend--but what she did mind was his spending  _all_ his time with Eliza instead of with her. She realized that it was only young love, and most likely after a couple of months they would be either broken up or slightly less obsessed with each other, but for the moment it felt like she never saw her son at all, which wasn't much of a change from their life before George Washington came into the picture.

Angelica sighed and put away the last dish. Up in Alex's room was the sound of happy talking of adolescents free from parental influence. It wasn't fair. She couldn't even be the disapproving mother who tried to find every last fault with Eliza. She had known Eliza through Peggy for years, and she knew how amazing Eliza was. Completely trusting, completely kind. Eliza didn't deserve to have her boyfriend's mother trying to separate them just so that she could have Alex to herself. If she asked Eliza to just maybe spend a little less time with Alex, she would agree, but she would be unhappy. Angelica couldn't do that to her.

The couple emerged from their room, still holding hands. Eliza walked over to the sink and rinsed out her cup, followed by Alex. They leaned slightly closer to one another, eyes fluttering closed, lips--

Thomas and Maddy paraded into the room, Maddy screeching on a plastic whistle, each bearing signs reading 'NO PDA IN THE KITCHEN' and 'KEEP OUR HOUSE CLEAN: NO KISSING IN PUBLIC'. Alex and Eliza both stumbled backwards in surprise, Alex waving his arms wildly and accidentally-on-purpose smacking Thomas in the face. Maddy made another tally mark in her notebook. "That's forty-eight times this week already that you've tried to kiss in public. Even the parental units don't kiss as much as that anymore."

"Shut up." Alex punched Thomas in the arm, then he and Eliza left the kitchen again while Angelica leaned against the sink and sighed.

She would never get any peace until Alex and Eliza broke up. And deep inside herself, she knew she would never be satisfied.


End file.
